This invention pertains to radio communication systems and, more particularly, to a two-way radio communication system in which individual remote radio transceiver units can be placed in one of a plurality of stimulated telephone answering machine modes.
Telephone answering machines have several different modes of operation. In one mode, for example, a caller may be invited to record a message immediately upon establishing a connection with the called telephone unit. In another mode, an attempt is made to establish voice communications between the caller and the called unit "ringing" the called unit. If the called unit fails to answer after a predetermined number of rings, the caller is invited to record a message. In either of these two modes of operation, the operator of the called unit can usually monitor the incoming message as it is being recorded. While monitoring the incoming message, the operator of the called unit usually has the option of interrupting the message by picking up the call, thereby establishing voice communications between the caller and the called unit.
It would be desirable if a two-way radio communication system could be designed that emulated the operation of a telephone answering machine in a two-way radio communication system. Accordingly, the invention described below provides the above described telephone machine operating modes and features. This invention also provides additional features not available in answering machines, such as the ability to record messages when a remote radio transceiver unit is out of range of its base station, or when the remote unit is busy with another call. This invention also permits a call originator to override the message recording process and establish a direct voice communication connection to the called unit.